Advertisement
Published: June 29th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Although technically I have only been in Sydney Australia for one day I felt that it was already time to provide an update given that its been 3 days since I left.
Following a tearfilled goodbye at Peason Airport on Wednesday afternoon I departed for Vancouver an hour and a half behind schedule due to a passenger who never arrived at the gate. I had a seat with a great view of the 3ft x 3ft movie screen and I'm not sure if its just because I had nothing better to do or if it was actually a good movie but Wild Hogs is definately not as bad as you would think and I had a lot of laughs on the way. I couldn't believe my luck, when the next feature was actually a half-hour of concert footage from the Tragically Hip concert I was at in Toronto in January! Although I'm pretty sure I was the only person on the flight excited by that fact...and the only person who subsequently watched the entire feature while trying not to sing out loud, it completely changed my impression of AirCanada and elevated its status in my mind to 'best airline
ever!'.
This status wouldn't last for long.....we arrived in Vancouver over an hour late and with only 30 minutes until my next flight to Hawaii would be bording. Luckily the flight crew allowed those of us with "tight connections" (ie. you'd better run if you're going to catch your flight) to leave the aircraft first. As I ran through the terminal I was lucky enough to run into 5 other people who were also trying to catch the flight to Hawaii. So in an Amazing Race style dash we formed an alliance (hoping that they may hold the flight if there were 6 people left to board) and began to rush through the maze and construction zone that is Vancouver International Airport.
Turns out that although our flight was scheduled to Sydney with a stop in Hawaii for refuling, the fact that we were touching down on US soil meant that we would have to clear US customs (guess my 'great idea' to connect in Vancouver instead of L.A. to avoid US customs was not to be). This also meant that I had to pick up my bags from the carosel - no small feat given that my
two bags weighed in excess of 160 pounds (and were again tagged with a 'heavy load' sticker...why do my bags always get tagged with that sticker?, could it be the 12 pairs of shoes? no, that couldn't be it...must be because of those audit files again! that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)
After hauling my bags through the airport I must have looked helpless enough since one of the customs agents actually came over to help me load my bags back onto the carosel after clearing customs (that helpless female routine was completely by accident I swear!! 😉
However, this routine did not appear to work on Security who proceeded to search my carry-on luggage while dumping an entire package of Pringles into the bag (I'm still picking chips out of my laptop!). We arrived at the gate just in time to board the flight.
This flight had tv screens on the seat backs so I was able to choose my entertainment. I couldn't help but be reminded of my trip to Kirkland Lake while watching The Office, eating corn chips and drinking diet coke. The entertainment even had XM satelite radio (...was severly disapointed
to see that there was no Ethel though, those of you from Kirkland Lake will understand my dismay).
Finally we arrived in Hawaii and reboarded the flight. I couldn't believe my luck that I was the only person on the flight with an empty seat next to me. While ignoring the jealous glares from the other cramped passengers I streched out with my 2 blankets and 2 pillows and slept for most of the journey to Sydney. It was great!
I arrived in Sydney on Friday morning at 6:30 am (local time) and flew through customs after a short delay on the plane...we actually had to wait while the flight attendants sprayed the entire aircraft with some type of bug spray designed such that foreign species would not enter Australia. I didn't want to think about what types of foreign species might be on the plane..but wow, that was strange.
The realtor met me outside my place shortly thereafter and gave me a tour of the suite, the building and lessons on how to work the appliances...trust me, the lessons were needed - the stove alone has a 4 step process for lighting.
Check out the
pics of my place below.
Due to the great sleep I enjoyed on the plane, I was actually quite energized and excited to see the city so I set out with my city map and 10 Things to Do in Syndey guide. The weather was beautiful - about 20 degrees and sunny (Someone should tell that to the Australian's who were wearing heavy jackets, boots scarves and gloves in some cases - they wouldn't last a second in Toronto!). I spent the day enjoying the Sydney harbour, including the opera house, botanical gardens and harbour bridge. It was an amazing experience and was great to have such nice weather.
After walking around the city all day I returned to my flat with ease and finally started to feel the jetlag. I decided to take a "quick nap" at around 4:00pm which turned into "not a quick nap" when I awoke at 10:00pm. This is probably the reason why I'm writing this blog at 2:00 in the morning. Oh well, plenty of time for sleep later, for now I'm excited to share all of the photos I took of my trip today and to share the story of my
journy to Australia with all of you.
Keep in touch!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.037s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.018s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Ken Gallimore
non-member comment
Wow!
What an amazing adventure! Your story and pictures are great. Who else would be reading your story at 7:00 AM on a Saturday morning. Carol is in the shower getting ready to go strawberry picking (again) with a friend. We are hoping Patrick will be back from Niagara to join us for dinner on Sunday with Patricia and Laurie Garvin. Laurie moved into her new apartment at King and Bathurst yesterday. Christina has been promoted to senior policy analyst. She and Nell have been in Newfoundland for the past week and really enjoying it. Their trip is going well so far. They should be home next Saturday. Thanks for sending the note and pictures, Love, Mom and Dad Gallimore